being this, that whereas Malachi says that Christ the Messiah shall come, Matthew

shows us that the Messiah has come. The Lord Jesus in the two-fold capacity of Son of

Abraham and Son of David walks their streets, heralds the good news of the kingdom, is

rejected and crucified, to be seen no more by the nation of Israel until they "look upon

Him whom they pierced." The gospel of the kingdom had good news not only for Israel

but for the Gentiles, for David's greater Son was also the Seed in whom all nations

should be blessed.

Rom. 15: 8, 9 should be here noticed. "Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of

the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: and

that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy", etc.  Then follow passages which,

strictly speaking, are millennial, and will not be fulfilled until the kingdom comes. In

full accord with Rom. 15: 8 is Matt. 10: 5-15, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles. . . .

but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". The gospel of the kingdom was

refused, as was the King, and the "Go not" is altered to the "Go ye, disciple all nations"

of Matt. 28: This opened the door of mercy to the Gentiles, as is shown in the Acts,

where the kingdom is once more proclaimed, and the "uttermost parts of the earth" are

taken into its scope.

The Gospels really are a continuation of the Old Testament, with this difference,

"God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by

the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us in His Son" (Heb. 1: 1, 2). The King

long prophesied was present. Alas! Israel, like all of Adam's race, needed a Saviour

from sin before they could appreciate a kingdom of righteousness, and consequently we

read in Matt. 12: 6, 41, 42, that they reject the Lord of glory though greater than any

temple, prophet or king. In verses 43-45 the Lord Jesus gives a prophetic picture of

Israel's apostasy and end; in verses 46-50 He disconnects Himself from fleshly ties; and

to the faithful remnant in Matt. 13:, He for the first time opens up the mystery of the

kingdom of the heavens.

The history of Israel virtually finished when they rejected Christ and mystery began,

but this was not made open and public until long after when the apostle Paul in

Acts 28: 26, 27 quoted the same verse openly that the Saviour had spoken privately

to His disciples, namely, Isa. 6: 10, and just as Christ then commenced to unfold the

mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, so Paul was enabled to commence the

unfolding of a mystery--not the mystery of the kingdom, but the mystery of the one

body--the truth for the present time.

Israel, the destined channel of blessing, had for the time failed, and it seems that the

apostle Paul in a sense was raised up to do in small measure that which Israel will yet do

in fulness when the kingdom comes. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus by the descent of

the Son of God is a close parallel to the conversion of Israel "in that day", as recorded

in Zech. 12: 10-14. He speaks of himself as being one born out of due time, and in

I Tim. 1: 16 he speaks of himself and his conversion as a type of those who shall hereafter

believe, the word "hereafter" being often used in connection with the kingdom.  In

Rom. 11: 1 his argument is, I am saved; I am an Israelite; I am a type and a pledge, not